Sunday, 29 March 2009

From an interview with PES (European Socialists) leader Poul Nyrup Rasmussen - not to confuse with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen who has been proposed as NATO secretary general - in Le Monde (own translation):

What do you think about the socialist leaders who support Mr Barroso, like the British Prime Minister Brown or the Spanish, Mr Zapatero?

I speak in the name of the PES. Not in the name of national governments. One thing is sure: the PES will not support Mr Barroso. He is the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP). He will never represent the opinions of the socialist family, even though some social-democratic governments are supporting him, for national reasons. The last word will be for the [European] Parliament after the elections.

I think it is over the top to think that just by appointing Rasmussen we shall see the levels of violence increase. Taliban insurgency has now turned into a Pashtun insurgency and has more of an ethnic dimension than religious one.